Internet Start-up Targets Largest On-Line Population - Christianity.com - Brief Article

Information Superhighways Newsletter, Oct, 2000

A new on-line network aimed at the Internet's largest but most underdeveloped user group announced its soft launch. Christianity.com is officially on-line with expanding services and a growing list of network members to be announced in the coming months.

Backed by Sequoia Capital, Comdisco, and CBN, Christianity.com throws the switch for the largest identifiable population on-line with an unprecedented roster of services. Where existing Christian portals currently serve as a single source for information, Christianiry.com is far more than a portal -- it will equip individuals, churches, and organizations with a sophisticated network of services and tools that give users a wide spectrum of on-line resources. In the process, Christinaity.com stands to assemble the largest single group of users on the Internet -- Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, and Messianic Jew -- 87 million worldwide.

Sequoia Capital partner, Mark Kvamme, said, "This community is a booming population that inhales information and thrives on communication and connection. The technology developed by Christianity.com allows this community to take unique advantage of the Internet." He added, "The network based content management system developed by Christianity.com is perfectly suited to serve this worldwide de community of faith."

David Davenport, most recently the 15-year president of Pepperdine University, jumped at the chance to lead Christianity.com "at the intersection of faith and culture." Calling this new network "empowering" and "one of the most strategically beneficial ventures for the full face of Christianity that I've seen," Davenport is urging Christian organizations to seize the advantage.

Some of the application suite of services and tools Christianity.com offers are: Web site development and management, site building through design templates, content creation, syndication, full Internet capabilities, Web-based e-mail, e-marketing, e-fundraising, e-commerce, personalized directory, shopping bot, distance education, and more.

All network partners will also receive syndicated news and content -- from entertainment, health, family, sports, and weather to current events and theology -- generated by Christianity.com's staff of more than 100 writers and editors. While syndicated content is readily available, network partners will have full control of their own content and style. Users may log on to their local church or favorite organization site -- powered by Christianity.com -- and immediately access all offerings that the church or organization knows they desire.